China has shut down scores of porn websites as part of its campaign to "clean the web".

Some 110 websites were closed, along with 3,300 accounts on social networking sites such as WeChat and Sina Weibo.

Almost 7,000 advertisements and 200,000 pornographic articles were also removed.

The crackdown was announced by the State Internet Information Office, and is part of a campaign called Cleaning The Web 2014.

An unnamed state official was quoted by state news agency Xinhua as saying: "Disseminating pornographic information online severely harms the physical and mental health of minors, and seriously corrupts social ethos."

Pornography is illegal in China, and the renewed drive to remove illegal material from the web is due to last until November.

The Chinese government maintains a tight grip on what can be viewed online in the country.

It has recently closed social messaging networks run by outspoken communists.

Last week a Beijing court sentenced a man to three years in prison for spreading rumours on Sina Weibo.